


Accidentally in Love

by HiddenTreasures



Series: Accidentally in Love [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Bonding, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Telepathic Bond, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-15 06:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14784941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenTreasures/pseuds/HiddenTreasures
Summary: When the Doctor and Rose are chased by a telepathically-sensitive group of aliens, he forms a temporary telepathic link with her to shield her from detection. But after the danger has passed, the Doctor is alarmed to realize that his connection with Rose is a little more than temporary.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for doctorroseprompts and their prompt of accidental bonding.
> 
> This is set after Tooth and Claw (and The Stone Rose) but before School Reunion.

The Doctor pumped his arms harder as he heard the pounding footsteps and grunts closing in on them. He chanced a glance back and noted with relief that Rose was still keeping up, red-faced and sweaty though she was.

He gritted his teeth and erected stronger telepathic shields, cursing himself for being so rusty with telepathy that he couldn’t cloak his mind well enough to throw their captors off their trail. 

He and Rose had, once again, found themselves in a spot of trouble. The aliens chasing them—the Sikans—had corrupted the minds of the government and had used this to their advantage to slowly take over the city. They’d already taken an area of land as big as the United Kingdom before the Doctor cottoned on to their plot and had blasted the city with a brief pulse of electromagnetic radiation at just the right frequency to return the brainwaves of the government officials back to normal, giving them back their freedom.

When the radical Sikans realized what the Doctor had done, they’d given chase, both to escape the furious government and to get revenge on the Doctor and Rose.

“Slow down,” Rose wheezed.

“Can’t,” the Doctor snapped. “They’re closing in on us. Please, Rose, you need to keep running.”

“How come they can track us so well?” she asked, panting for breath.

“They can trace even the faintest telepathic creature,” he answered. “All Sikans can recognize other Sikans, but my mental signature is slightly different, so they’re tracking that. I’ve tried to shield my mind, but apparently my shields are rubbish because they’re still following us.”

“What about me?” she asked, her voice going high in alarm.

“What about you?”

“You said they’re tracking telepathic signatures,” she said. “You told me that all humans…”

“…All humans have low-level telepathic receptors,” the Doctor whispered, his body going numb. He’d shielded himself, all right, but he didn’t even think to shield Rose. Most species couldn’t recognize a human’s latent ability for telepathy. But Sikans were one of the most intelligent and telepathically-sensitive beings in the universe. He stopped on the spot and pivoted towards Rose until she nearly crashed into his chest.

“Oi!”

“C’mere,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into a nearby building. It was some sort of restaurant. A bar, judging by the loud and raucous customers and the bright-colored drinks. He brought his fingers to Rose’s temples as he said, “Rose, I need to go into your mind. They’re tracking you, and you have no way of shielding yourself. I’m so sorry, I know you don’t like telepathy, but…”

“No, I just don’t like telepathy when it’s used on me without my knowledge,” she corrected. “Do what you need to do, Doctor. I trust you.”

The Doctor’s throat swelled shut at the sincerity gleaming in her eyes. He wished he could tell her what it meant to him that she trusted him so implicitly with something as intimate as this.

“Just let me in,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he pressed his fingertips to her temples. As soon as he reached out, he was engulfed in Rose’s mind. It was beautiful. It was so soft, warm, and bright. It felt so  _right_ , as though he was always meant to be there.

“All right?” Rose asked.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “Sorry. You just… this feels nice.”

“Yeah it does,” she murmured, and he shivered when he felt just how much she was enjoying this. Telepathic contact always felt good, but this… This was more than good. Indescribably good. He never wanted to leave this place, and his chest ached with the knowledge that he would have to break the connection when he and Rose were safe.

“Okay, just stay open to me,” he instructed, moving through her mind. “I’m going to bring you into my mind, now. Okay? Just… just follow me. This is hard to describe. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can.”

He found the edges of her mind and reached out and cradled her mind close to him. He expected to have to put in a lot of effort to take her behind his shields, but Rose moved with him as effortlessly as walking alongside him in the physical world.

 _You’re doing really well,_  he praised, guiding Rose’s mental center into his.

He felt her flash of pride and happiness at the compliment, and he made a mental note to compliment her more often. As soon as they slipped into his mind, he felt a wave of awe roll through her. He smiled as Rose tentatively explored his mind, but only staying within the confines of his mind that he had led her into.

She was acting like a natural telepath, the way she moved her mind with his. The way she didn’t try to explore his mind without his consent.

Once again, the Doctor’s chest grew warm as he ached to deepen this connection with Rose. But no, this was for her protection only. He was only there to help her and keep her safe until they got back to the TARDIS. Then he would leave her mind and go back to being her best mate and try to forget that he’d shared such a deep and intimate connection with the woman he—

He locked down that thought as quickly as it came. Connected like this, he and Rose were open books to each other, and it wouldn’t do for him to admit how much he felt for his companion.

He frowned at that word. Rose was so much more than a companion.

Surprise swelled through him, and his ears burned when he realized Rose has caught onto that thought. When he looked down at her, she was resolutely staring out the window. His stomach twisted with rejection. She’d just heard him admit that she was so much more to him than anyone he’d traveled with before, yet she wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard that.

Of course she did. Of course she didn’t see him as anything other than a friend. He was an alien. An ancient alien. Cursing himself, he forced that train of thought to come to a screeching halt and he desperately tried to keep his mind blank to save himself more embarrassment.

“Is that them?” Rose whispered suddenly, the Doctor’s head ached slightly as he heard the question aloud and in his mind.

 _Yeah_ , he answered, peeking out the window as their captors sprinted past the pub.  _Let’s just stay in here for a minute or two._

“How do you do that?” she asked. “I can hear you talking, but your lips aren’t moving.”

The Doctor turned to her and saw the furrow in her brow. He smiled down at her.  _You can think aloud in your head, can’t you? Try it._

The furrow in her brow deepened, and the Doctor winced when she shouted,  _This is so odd!_

Rose saw his wince, and she frowned. “What did I do wrong?”

 _You’re just a little loud,_  he answered.  _Try it again. It’s not that difficult. You’re in my mind, Rose, so you don’t need to think so loudly._

She rolled her eyes and muttered,  _Never done this before, have I?_

 _But you’re catching on so quickly._  He grinned when her eyes widened.

 _So we could talk privately like this, and only you can hear me?_  Rose looked around the room as though to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. But nobody was paying any attention to them.  _It’s so intimate._

The Doctor shivered at the yearning in Rose’s voice, then he felt her mind shrink away from his. He frowned and had to keep himself from reaching out to keep her where she was, but then he recognized the embarrassment rolling through her.

 _Hang on, let me try something_ , the Doctor said. He tried to erect a layer of protection between his mind and hers so that she—and he—would have a bit of privacy until he could break their connection.

But when he tried to put up a wall between them, pain bloomed behind his eyes and he heard Rose whimper and clutch at her head. He immediately stopped, and he reached out for Rose’s mind.

_I’m so sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Not sure why that happened. Are you all right?_

_Yeah,_  she said, rubbing at her forehead. She frowned.  _What did you do? Please don’t do that again. Blimey, that hurt._

He gently prodded her mind, looking for any injury. He found a slightly raw spot, and he ran a soothing touch over it. Telepathy was supposed to feel nice. He hated that he’d accidentally hurt her. He never ever wanted her to know pain from telepathic contact with him.

A rush of bitterness coursed through him. All the times he’d indulged in thinking about sharing a telepathic connection with Rose, he’d never once imagined this. He’d always imagined it being more intimate and more consensual, and preferably when they were already in a relationship together.

The Doctor slammed his mind behind another wall, and he heard Rose cry out again.

_Bugger! I’m sorry!_

_What are you doing?!_

_I’m trying to give us a bit of privacy so our every thought and emotion isn’t projected to the other,_  he snapped, suddenly feeling so vulnerable.

 _Well quit it, you’re giving me a headache,_  she said.

 _I should be able to do this,_  he grumbled, moving slowly to separate his mind from Rose’s to give them a bit of space. But her mind moved with his, and when he gently tried to extricate himself, he felt the beginnings of a pressure that would turn into pain if he kept moving.

Panic began to swell up inside of him. Why was he having such trouble disconnecting with Rose?

 _Don’t disconnect anything ‘til we’re home,_  Rose threatened, and the Doctor loved that she called his ship ‘home’.  _‘Course she’s home. I live there, don’t I?_

The Doctor ignored her and he instead said,  _I think we’re safe. Let’s go._

He poked his head out of the pub and upon seeing the empty street, he ushered Rose outside. Unthinkingly, he threaded their fingers together, and his nerve endings seemed to zing with energy when his skin touched hers. The way her fingers clenched around his let him know she felt it too. He was tempted to untangle their hands, but holding her hand felt so much better than usual.

Finally, they made it to the TARDIS. The Doctor dropped Rose’s hand and moved around the console to send them into the Vortex for the night. He paused when he saw Rose absently fiddling with a few knobs and buttons, and when he looked at them, he realized she’d completed a few steps of the dematerialization process.

When she saw him staring at her, her cheeks went pink and she mumbled,  _Sorry. Didn’t mean to muck anything up…_

 _No, no, you’re exactly right. How’d you know what to do?_  The TARDIS hummed and his connection with his ship deepened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rose smile and run her fingers across the central console unit.  _Oh, of course. Being in my head, of course my bond with the TARDIS is in your head too. And, well, so am I. So you had a sense of how to fly her._

 _I could fly the TARDIS?_  Rose sounded incredulous and also a little hopeful, and the Doctor held out his hand for her.

 _Care to do the honors?_  He gestured for the lever, and he mirrored her giddy grin when she threw the lever and the rotor began to chug up and down. He threw back his head and laughed, delighted to see Rose flying his beloved ship.

The Doctor’s mind went red, sending heat down his neck and into his chest before it pooled in his belly. His stomach flipped when he got the sudden urge to kiss Rose, to pull her into his arms and press her body against his…

His arousal faded and mortification took its place. The rapid transition nearly gave him telepathic whiplash, but soon his own embarrassment was added to the mix when he realized the urge to snog had come from Rose.

She wanted to snog him?

He wanted to be delighted, but he felt how awful she was feeling. No matter what he wanted, he refused to make Rose any more uncomfortable.

“Right!”

They both winced at his too-loud voice and the echo in their minds of his words.

 _Sorry,_  he said.  _But it’s time to go back to being in our own heads._

The relief he could feel from Rose settled something hard in his stomach, and he clenched his jaw to keep his emotions under wrap. Sure, he never meant for this connection to be permanent, but it still stung to be reminded that Rose didn’t want him in her head anymore.

He pressed his fingertips to her temple and looked within himself to find Rose’s mind. It was where it had been for the last twenty minutes.  _Had it really only been twenty minutes?_

 _I’m gonna guide you back to your own mind,_  he instructed, and her mind moved with his back into Rose’s headspace. His knees shook as he entered her mind again. It was the most beautiful place in the universe, and he didn’t want to leave.  _This is your stop,_  he joked weakly. But when he moved to leave her mind, her mental presence followed him.  _Rose, stop it._

_Stop what?_

_Stop following me,_  he sighed.

_I’m not following you. At least... I don’t think I’m following you? I don’t really know what I’m doing._

The Doctor’s hearts sped slightly. He closed his eyes and concentrated until he projected their physical forms onto their mental ones. Rose gasped, and he couldn’t help but smile as she looked around the room they were in.

 _What is this place?_  she asked, spinning around. The room was bright with a golden light, and it looked immeasurably long with many doors along the corridor.

 _It’s your mental landscape,_  he answered.  _The easiest way to try to understand a telepathic mind is by envisioning a room with a bunch of doors. Behind the doors are memories and experiences. They’re closed unless you choose to share them with me, in which case, they’ll open. For example…_

The Doctor walked over to what appeared to be a closed door, but when he approached, the door swung open and he saw the memory of Rose looking down into his unconscious face as she begged him to wake up and help her. He felt her fear and her desperation, along with her sense of grief and loss as he lived the memory through her eyes.

He forced himself to turn around and extricate himself from the memory.

 _Er, that shouldn’t have happened,_  he said, feeling a sense of foreboding overcome him.

 _What’s that mean?_  Rose asked.

 _I don’t know,_  he said, even though he had a niggling suspicion. But it was impossible.  _Let’s walk down the corridor,_  he said instead.

The mental visage of Rose took his hand, and he nearly had to swallow back a groan at how good it felt. But she couldn’t muffle it in time, and embarrassment once again washed over them as she dropped his hand.

 _Sorry!_  she squeaked.

 _It’s fine,_  he said, his voice strained.  _Telepathic contact is different than physical contact._

He felt a question brewing from Rose, but the longer they walked in silence, he finally asked,  _What’s on your mind?_

Rose giggled.  _Well, apart from us, I was just wondering… You’re telepathic._

 _Obviously,_  he prompted when she fell silent.

 _Is what we’re doing… intimate to a telepath?_  she asked quietly.

The Doctor stared resolutely forward and clenched his hands to his sides. He tried to keep his voice steady as he replied,  _Yeah. A bit._

He could tell Rose wanted him to elaborate, but he didn’t know how to tell her that the type of link they were sharing was something only romantically-involved couples usually indulged in. And so he didn’t say anything, and he continued walking. The doors along the corridor all opened as they walked by them, but the Doctor sped past them so he couldn’t peek in on them and invade Rose’s privacy more than he already had.

As they walked, the Doctor felt the shift that accompanied leaving Rose’s mind and entering his.

 _Oh, no,_  he moaned as the hallway shifted from something narrow, straight, and golden into something dark, huge, and multi-faceted. Many corridors extended out from a central room, and the Doctor spun around wildly. He could see the corridor they just came down, but Rose’s mental landscape should not be merged with his, unless…

The Doctor sprinted down a corridor in his mind, and his hearts raced when he felt Rose sprint after him.

 _Why are we running?_  Rose asked, keeping pace with him.

He ignored her and took a sharp left, then another left, then a right, but Rose followed him effortlessly.

_No, no, no!_

_Doctor, what’s happened? Why are you running. Would you just stop?!_

Again, he ignored her and sprinted back to the main room in his mind. The golden corridor of Rose’s mind was attached, and he took Rose’s hand in his. He ignored the pleasure of joining his mental presence with hers, and he tried to ignore the pleasure she was projecting.

_Doctor, what…?_

_Let me try something,_ he said distractedly.

He walked forward until he began to feel the shift of going into Rose’s mind. He stopped just short of Rose’s mind, but he tugged on her hand until he positioned her in her mind while he was standing in his mind. He let go of her hand and threw up a wall between them.

Agony ripped through his skull, and he heard Rose cry out.

_Doctor? Doctor! Doctor, please!_

His chest felt too tight to breathe as he erased the wall between them, but he turned away from Rose and began guiding them out of the deep connection they were in.

When he blinked open his eyes, he saw Rose’s ashen face. When she opened her eyes, they were damp with tears. The sight caused his hearts to clench, and he ached to burrow deep in her mind and comfort his bondmate.

Because that’s what she was. He’d accidentally bonded with Rose. Against her will. Against her knowledge. Against her permission.

Against his, too.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, reaching out to massage her temples as he tried to blanket his mind—and therefore hers—in calm and quiet. He knew the pain of being cut off from a telepathic presence that was always supposed to be there, and he hated that he’d made her feel that. But they weren’t supposed to be bonded. She wasn’t supposed to be in his head permanently, and he wasn’t supposed to be in her head permanently either.

“What happened?” she asked, sniffling. “You were so angry. And so scared. Then it hurt so badly.”

“I know, I know,” he said. “I’m so sorry, Rose.”

“What happened?” she asked again.

“I can’t break our telepathic link,” he admitted, readying himself for her anger.

But all he felt was surprise.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Can’t you just leave my head? You were gonna put me back in my own head then leave.”

“I tried,” he said. “But it’s hard to leave your own mental landscape.”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “But it’s my mind.”

“You saw it yourself,” he snapped, his patience wearing thin as his panic began to choke him. “You saw your mind meld right into mine. The corridor of your mind led right into the corridors of mine. I can’t separate us, Rose. I tried, and you felt what happened then.”

Rose’s mind was silent, and he wanted to beg her to talk to him, to tell him what she was thinking.

“Not thinking anything,” she whispered. “Just… why did this happen?”

The Doctor rubbed his hands across his face. “I don’t know. It shouldn’t have. I don’t know why. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“So we’re stuck like this?”

The Doctor winced and his shoulders slumped.

“I’ll figure something out,” he mumbled. “In the meantime, we need to practice shutting down our thoughts and emotions.”

“Right,” she said. “Is that possible?”

“Yeah, ‘course,” he said. “Bonded couples weren’t completely open books to each other. With practice, we’ll be able to shield our thoughts from each other. It’ll take a bit of time, unfortunately. But the TARDIS has a room that might help. The Zero Room. It dampens the telepathic center. It’ll give us some peace and quiet as I figure this out. I’m so sorry Rose. If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t’ve…”

“You would’ve just let those mad Sikans get us?” she fired back.

“I would’ve figured something else out,” he said, but Rose’s glare let him know she’d caught his lie.

“Don’t lie to me,” she snapped. “Not when I can tell, Doctor. Please.”

The Doctor sighed. “Sorry.”

He breathed deeply for a few seconds until Rose asked, “You said ‘bonded couples’. What’s that?”

“You asked earlier if what we were doing was intimate,” he began, “and I said, ‘a bit’. Well, that was a teensy little lie, too. Er… the type of connection we have right now… it’s called a bond. A physical melding of the minds. Instead of our minds existing apart from each other, they’ve merged. Like the corridors. They used to be two separate rooms, but now they’re connected and we can walk in and out of each other’s mind effortlessly.

“And that type of connection was reserved for… well, for couples involved in a romantic relationship. Er… a relationship that was in the advanced stages of courtship.”

“So we’re married now?” Rose asked breathlessly.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I never meant for this to happen. Ever.”

Hurt pulsed through his mind, and Rose ducked her face.

“I know,” she said, her voice small.

“Rose?”

He reached out to make her look at him, but she backed away from him. Her mind was still swirling with embarrassment and hurt, and he unthinkingly dove deeper into their connection to figure out the root of Rose’s emotions.

Rejection. That was the source of her distress.

“Stop that!” she cried, backing away from him physically as her mind scrambled to hide from him.

He cursed and withdrew as much as he could, trying to give her privacy.

“Sorry, Rose, I’m sorry!” he said, holding his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t mean to pry. It’s instinct for me. I’m so sorry. That was so rude. Please forgive me. But please… why are you so upset?”

“You just said you never wanted anything like this with me,” she snapped. “You really are a big, stupid alien if you don’t know why I’m upset.”

The Doctor’s mind reeled. He’d never said that.

“Don’t deny it,” she said sharply. “You said you never meant for this to happen. Ever. But now you’re stuck with a stupid ape human in your mind forever, because you and I both know you know there’s no way to undo this.”

“Rose, Rose, stop,” he said, stepping towards her. But she took a step back, keeping several feet of distance between them. He sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “Rose, you misunderstood me.”

“Don’t lie,” she mumbled, rubbing at her red eyes.

“I’m not,” he said, feeling frustrated. “You genuinely misunderstood me. I literally meant that I didn’t intend for this type of bond to be created today, at any point in the day. That’s all. Rose, this connection…” His voice failed him, and he debated leaving the sentence unsaid, but the tears he could still see shining in her eyes forced him to soldier on. He tentatively reached out for her mind, and when he felt her trying to stop him, he asked,  _Can I show you something? Please? I know you’re upset and I hurt you, but you’re still not understanding me._

Finally, he saw Rose nod and he felt her open up to him. He was rendered nearly breathless at the peace he felt at sharing his mind with her. He stared at a point over her shoulder as he let her feel everything he was feeling, unchecked.

He let her feel his fear and vulnerability at being so exposed. He let her feel his sorrow and regret that he foisted this upon them without their knowledge or consent. But mostly, he let her feel just how good it felt to share his mind with someone, and how he wouldn’t want this sort of connection with anyone but her.

 _Why me?_  she asked.

 _Rose, do you genuinely not know?_ His hearts broke a little at that, and he took a deep breath and pulled up everything he felt for Rose, letting her feel his raw love, devotion, and happiness. She gasped and stumbled to the console for balance.  _Rose, I’m in love with you. Have been for a very long time._

He pulled up the memory of that moment in Downing Street when he told her he could save the world but lose her. He’d known her for only a week, yet she had become so important to him, and the agony that lanced through his chest at the thought of losing her had nearly been enough to tell Mickey to sod it, to cancel the missile strike on Downing Street.

He felt her shock and awe when he shared the memory with her.

_I’d already grown so attached to you, Rose, and I knew I wanted you in my life forever. Even then._

He changed to a new memory, of that Dalek calling her the woman he loved, and how powerless he felt because the Dalek was right. Rose was the woman he loved, and he was helpless to save her.

He then showed her the memory of the searing jealousy he felt when Rose flirted with Captain Jack, then the smugness he felt when she turned to dance with him instead.

 _You’re the only one I ever want to dance with,_  he admitted. And his cheeks burned when he added,  _Literal and figurative dancing._

He chanced a glance at her and saw her tears had fallen. He panicked that he was mucking everything up further, but then he felt her barely-leashed hope. Needing to destroy any doubts she had, he kept feeding her his memories. He showed her his absolute devastation and hearts-break when he thought she’d been killed on the Game Station. He showed her his fierce need to protect her, so he tricked her into going home. He showed her the awe he felt when she came back, and he showed her how humbled and in love he felt when she revealed herself to be the Bad Wolf.

_Rose, you held all of time in your head, and all you wanted to do with it was to keep me safe. Gods, there was no turning back then. I’d already loved you for months, but that… That moment, I knew that I would be yours, forever._

He showed her his terror as he realized becoming Bad Wolf would kill her, and so without hesitation, he took the power from her to save her life.

Grief buffeted him, and the Doctor looked up to see Rose’s face had crumpled.

“I killed you?” she whimpered.

“No, Rose,” he said gently, stepping up to her. “You saved me. Since I met you in that basement of Henrik’s, you’ve been saving me every minute of every day. And I fall deeper in love with you every day. As much as I tried to run from it.”

“Why?” she sniffled, wiping at her eyes.

He reached out and cradled her cheeks in his palms. He rubbed his thumbs under her eyes, drying her tears.

“Because I was scared,” he answered. “You’re human. Your lifespan is a blip in time compared to mine. You would be gone soon, and I’d be alone again, but this time, no one could fill the void you left behind.”

Rose reached up and rested her hands on top of his. The warmth of her hands made his skin tingle. She gave his fingers a squeeze as she said, “I’m so sorry, Doctor. You know I’ll do everything in my power to stay with you as long as I can, right?”

He sighed but nodded. He absently stroked her skin as he waited for her to say something about everything he’d just said. He’d bared his soul to her, professed his undying love and devotion to her, but had no indication she felt similarly.

Rose’s brow furrowed, then her eyes widened.

“I love you, too,” she whispered, moving her hands to cup his cheeks. “I thought you knew.”

“I suspected,” he admitted. “But maybe I was projecting.”

Rose smiled at him for the first time since he’d tried to sever their unbreakable bond, and he leaned further into her touch.

“Daft alien,” she said fondly. “No, you weren’t projecting. I love you. I’ve loved you for so long.”

He watched her brow furrow and her tongue poke between her teeth in concentration. Moments later, he felt her side of their bond deepen until he was surrounded by her love. His knees felt like they could give out with the strength of the emotion. Her love was a ribbon that wound around every memory she had of him. It was at the center of her very being.

_Oh, Rose._

_My Doctor_ , she replied, stroking her fingertips up and down his cheeks. When they brushed across his temple, their bond flared red-hot, and the Doctor groaned at the pleasure he felt.

 _Sorry!_  she squealed, yanking her hand away from his temple.

He snagged her hand in his and brought it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles as he caught his breath, and he laughed against her skin.

 _I suppose as my wife, you have every right to come on to your husband,_  he drawled.

He felt Rose flush in part embarrassment, part arousal. Her eyes darkened, and she unconsciously licked her lips, making them shine so invitingly.

 _May I kiss you?_  he asked, brushing the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip.

 _I suppose as my husband, you have every right to kiss your wife,_  she teased.

He grinned down at her, feeling happier than he had all day. He stepped closer to her until her body was pressed up against his. She shivered in his arms, and he felt a shudder ripple down his spine in anticipation.

He kept her face cradled in his hands as he leaned down. His nose brushed down hers, and she whimpered with impatience before she grabbed the lapels of his coat and tugged him closer.

Their mouths crashed together without finesse. Their lips pressed tightly together and the Doctor’s nose was smooshed against her cheek, but it was amazing. It was their first kiss. Well. Their first kiss when they were both aware and cognizant of their actions, and one where both parties were active participants.

 _I’d wanted to kiss you longer in Rome_ , Rose admitted.  _But you pulled away too fast._

 _I panicked,_  he said.

He tilted his head to the side to get a better angle and to deepen the kiss. She groaned and buried her hands in his hair to hold him closer as she took his bottom lip between her lips. He hummed as her teeth nibbled against his bottom lip. Sharing kisses with Rose felt better than he ever imagined.

 _Not panicking now?_  she asked, scraping her fingers across his scalp.

He shivered.  _No. Not panicking. Don’t want to panic about anything with you again._

He felt Rose smile against his mouth, and he couldn’t help but smile back. He pulled out of the kiss to look down at her. Her lips were slightly red and her cheeks were pink.

“I don’t want to panic about anything in our relationship,” he told her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “But I think I need to take this slowly. If that’s all right? Just this morning we were best mates who, admittedly, were already in love, but not acting on it. Now we have a bond. And shared our first kiss. And as brilliant as this feels, and as instinctual as it is to immediately progress this to the next level, I’m already so overwhelmed.”

Rose reached out and rested her hand over his chest where his hearts were pounding. He took a deep breath in to relax himself and to try to make her understand what he was fumbling to say.

“I understand,” she told him. “I do. This is all so new for me too. We can go as slowly as we need to. Just make sure you’re communicating with me, though.”

The Doctor smiled and deepened their connection as he rested his forehead against hers.

 _I’m done hiding from you_ , he whispered, pressing a light kiss to her mental presence.

Rose reciprocated the telepathic kiss, and the Doctor shivered at the intimacy. He gently guided them back to the physical world, where he nuzzled his nose against hers, then leaned down to catch her lips in another sweet and tender kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein the Doctor and Rose explore a little bit more of their new bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, so here is the second chapter nobody was expecting. I totally blame chocolatequeen. She is the worst influence (I mean this in the best way possible).

They continued snogging each other against the console for several more minutes until Rose became aware of how grimy she felt. Sprinting away from the rebel Sikans had worked up quite a sweat, and while the perspiration had evaporated, she felt sticky and knew she was beginning to smell.

“It’s not that bad,” the Doctor mumbled against her skin as he pressed small kisses to the corner of her mouth.

“But I feel gross,” she countered, gently pushing him away. “I’d like to get a shower, then I’d like you to show me more about our bond and how it works?”

“Absolutely,” the Doctor said. “Meet me in the library in thirty minutes.”

He pressed a parting kiss to her lips then they walked down the corridor to their respective bedrooms.

She made a beeline for the shower, impatient to wash off the sweat and dust from the day.

Rose looked at herself in her mirror as the water heated up. Her hair was frizzy and mussed from the Doctor’s fingers, and her lips were slightly swollen and bright red. A thrill of heat settled low into her stomach as she remembered the feel of his lips moving against hers, sucking and nipping at her lips as his hands wandered everywhere.

He’d said he wanted to take their physical relationship slowly, but Rose hoped it wouldn’t move too slowly. If he kept kissing her like that, she was going to combust.

She stripped off her clothes and dumped them into the laundry chute before she raked a brush through her hair. After smoothing out the knots and tangles, she stepped into the steaming shower. Groaning as the hot water pelted against her tired muscles, Rose stood under the spray for several minutes, letting the water lull her into relaxation. She then grabbed her soap and began washing herself.

When she was clean, she wrapped herself in a towel and moved into her room to get dressed. As she pulled on clean knickers, she paused. She was in her bedroom. And the Doctor was in his bedroom. But they were married. Did that mean they were going to share a bedroom and sleep in the same bed now?

Even though they’d spent fifteen minutes snogging against the console, the idea of sharing a bedroom with the Doctor felt so… domestic. So intimate. Her things would be next to his things, and they would be sleeping together which would eventually turn into  _sleeping together_.

Her belly fluttered with nerves. All in the span of a few hours, she and the Doctor had gotten married and confessed their love for each other. He’d said he didn’t want to panic about their relationship, and that he didn’t want to hide from her. But what if he realized just how fast they’d moved? What if he felt trapped and overwhelmed?

Rose sat down on her bed and closed her eyes as she tried to breathe against the welling panic. A hysterical giggle bubbled up her throat. The Doctor said he didn’t want to panic anymore about their relationship, yet here she was, panicking.

Then she felt her bond with the Doctor, which had been in the background of her mind, shift slightly as it sharpened into view. All of a sudden, her heart rate slowed and she felt her lungs unknot as her mind was blanketed in peace and support as the Doctor comforted her.

He stayed in her mind for a minute before he pressed what felt like a kiss to her temple and his presence faded. While she was happy he’d come to soothe her anxieties, it brought one of her biggest questions to the forefront of her mind.

_Doctor, can you hear everything I’m thinking?_

She waited for his reply, but it never came. Frowning, she asked again. But when he still didn’t answer, Rose closed her eyes and tried to focus on their bond. But every time she thought she could feel it, it slipped away. Frustrated, Rose closed her eyes and shouted,  _Doctor!_

Their bond sharpened into focus and she could feel his wince.

 _Blimey, there’s no need to shout,_  he said.

 _Well you weren’t answering me,_  she said, a little miffed.

_Were you trying to reach for me? I’m sorry, I didn’t notice._

_How is it you were able to reach out to me so easily then? I felt right away when you came into my mind._

_I have centuries of experience with telepathy,_  he reminded her gently.  _You’ve got… ooh, about two hours of experience. All things considered, you’re doing remarkably well._

Rose felt warm with the praise.

 _Though now I’m here, is everything all right?_  he asked.  _You felt… unsettled a few moments ago._

 _I was being daft, I think,_  she answered.  _Then I was just wondering if you could hear everything I was thinking?_

 _Nope, not without effort,_  he replied.  _This conversation we’re having requires mutual effort and concentration. What are you doing right now?_

_Er… sitting on my bed?_

_Try to stand up and walk to your dresser while still talking to me._

Rose frowned, but she opened her eyes stood up from her bed and walked to her dresser. When she was there, she closed her eyes and said,  _That was simple. What was that about?_

_Ah, but you weren’t talking to me as you did it. You had to, for lack of a better word, mute our conversation to focus on walking. Try again, but stay here with me. To make it easier, I’ll talk, you walk._

Rose opened her eyes, and screwed up her brows as she tried to focus on the Doctor’s voice in her head.

_Carefully. You’ll get much better at this, but for now, your brain is trying to do a million things all at once. It’s trying to coordinate your body into moving in the direction that you want it to while also listening to what I’m saying and comprehending the words I’m speaking. It’s exhausting, innit?_

Rose had to agree that it was slightly unnerving to have to concentrate as much as she was on the basic task of walking. She could do it—she could listen to the Doctor and talk to him in her mind as she crossed her room, but it felt more tiring than if she were trying to walk and talk aloud to him.

 _You’ll get better at it,_  he promised.  _But in the early stages of our bond, to connect as deeply as we are often requires us to disregard the physical world. So how about we part for now and reconvene in the library in a few minutes? I’ll bring biscuits and tea._

 _You sure know the way to my heart,_  she teased.

She could hear his happy hum in her mind, and she laughed. She then shuddered as warmth stole over her when he pressed a kiss to her mind and carefully faded out of focus again. Wanting to be able to do the same for him, she made a mental note to ask him how he was able to reach for their bond and project love and comfort over it.

After pulling on pajama bottoms and a soft cotton t-shirt, Rose made her way to the library. The door was wide open and the room was flickering with orange light from the fire blazing in the hearth. Her chest warmed when she saw the Doctor lounged on the sofa with a box of biscuits in his lap and a mug of tea cradled in his hands.

He must have sensed her presence, because he tilted his head back and beamed. His smile was so wide and genuine that it made her heart do somersaults.

“Feeling better?” he asked, taking his feet off the coffee table.

She sat down beside him then leaned forward to pick up her tea. She cupped it between her palms and brought it to her nose to let the floral and honey smell relax her. She wasn’t nervous, per se, but she did feel wound up.

“So, what was troubling you earlier?” he asked. “You said you were just being daft, but you felt extremely anxious. That level of anxiety was real, not just daftness.” Rose took a sip of tea to try to think about how to best explain her concerns, and after an extended pause, the Doctor continued quietly, “You obviously don’t have to tell me, of course. But I wish you would. I want to help you, and reassure you, if I can.”

“I was worried about how fast things have moved,” Rose admitted, and a sinking feeling was passed through the bond. The Doctor’s face went pale and his knuckles were white around his mug. Finally realizing how that came out, she hastily added, “I don’t regret anything, and I haven’t changed my mind. But you have to admit, this all happened incredibly fast. This morning we woke up in our own beds in our own minds and had tea and toast in the kitchen and were best friends.”

“We can slow down,” he murmured, staring deeply into his mug. “It’s fine. We can try to limit the use of our bond and go through the typical route of human courtship. I’ll take you on dates and woo you and…”

“Doctor, that isn’t what I meant,” Rose said, resting her hand on his forearm. The muscles tightened under her touch but he didn’t pull away, so she kept her hand on his arm and rubbed her thumb through the fine, dark hairs. “I just meant that it’s a lot to process. I don’t even quite understand the connection we have. And I don’t know how to reach for you like you’ve reached for me. I feel behind with everything and like our relationship is so unequal right now.”

“Would you like me to teach you?” he asked, finally relaxing.

“Yes, please,” she said.

The Doctor paused for a minute and stuffed another biscuit into his mouth. He chewed it noisily then licked the crumbs off the corners of his mouth before he said, “So what does our bond feel like to you?”

Rose blinked. She closed her eyes and focused on the new piece of her mind that hadn’t been there before. It was like a tingle at the back of her head, like trying to remember the name of a song or a book that was just slightly out of reach. The harder she tried to focus on it, the further it seemed to slip from her grasp until frustration rippled through her.

“Relax,” the Doctor said, resting his hand atop hers on his arm. “You’re focusing too hard. Just… empty your mind as best you can. And just… feel. Feel me. Feel  _us_.”

Rose took a deep, calming breath and tried to let go of the frustration she was feeling. She instead focused on the feeling of the Doctor beside her. She could feel warmth radiating off of him, and she seemed hyper-aware of the places their skin was touching. It was like she could feel every hair on his arm as her thumb continued to stroke his skin. It was like a low-level current thrummed between their skin, and it made her feel so safe and comfortable.

“That’s right,” he whispered. “Because I’m a touch-telepath. Now through our bond, you are too.”

“Did it always feel like this for you?” she asked, wondering if that was why he’d liked touching her so much before.

“No, this is new,” he answered. “I enjoyed touching you so much before because I was already so in love with you.” The blasé way in which he admitted that made Rose’s lungs hitch in surprise. But before she could comment, he continued, “Keep trying to feel me. Slowly, though.”

Rose inhaled deeply and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. She focused on his touch and how good it felt to be touching him, and she let that feeling flow through her. She felt completely at peace, as though nothing would ever be wrong in the universe as long as they were together.

She loved him. She’d loved him for ages, but now she could actually tell him. She could show him. She could feel him. Suddenly, it felt like she and the Doctor were sitting in her mind rather than in the library. They didn’t have corporeal bodies, but rather it was as though she could feel the essence of them. Like their very souls were existing inside of her.

She felt incredibly humbled that the Doctor trusted her with everything that he was, and she felt the utter trust he had in her. She knew that her essence was inside of him, too, and while a little piece of her felt incredibly vulnerable to have so much of herself exposed to someone else, there was no one else she would trust more.

Her mind was bright, warm, and cozy, and she basked in the sensation. She loved this. She loved him. More than she thought she could ever love another person.

His fingers tightened around her hand.

 _Oh Rose,_  he murmured, and she shivered as their intimacy deepened as he solidified in her mind.  _I love you so much, too. More than I could possibly say._

But he didn’t have to say it. She could feel it. His love for her was threaded through his very being, an intrinsic part of him that would never go away.

 _This feels amazing_ , Rose whispered, wanting so badly to touch his mental essence but remembering how intimate it had felt when she’d accidentally done it earlier that day.

 _Go ahead,_  the Doctor said, his voice a little shaky.  _I was serious earlier. I’m not hiding from your or our relationship anymore. You are the only one for me, Rose. I am completely and eternally yours, forever._

The weight of his words resounded through their mind and through their bond, strengthening it and making it clearer in her mind.

 _What was that?_  she asked curiously.

 _Our bond will strengthen over time,_  he answered.  _As we grow closer and our minds grow stronger. Telepathy is similar to strengthening a muscle. As we use our bond, it will get stronger and easier to reach for. It won’t take as much effort for you to reach for me, or vice versa. But as our bond strengthens, so will our telepathic barriers._

A flash of panic shot through Rose as she remembered the agony of him trying to block off their bond.

 _I didn’t mean it like that,_  he reassured.  _But currently we’re both novices with hiding our emotions from each other. It’s like we’re standing in the same room and shouting at each other. But with time, we’ll learn to quiet our thoughts and be more deliberate in the emotions we project across the bond. The only exceptions are strong and sudden emotions. Though when we’re connected like this, we’re open books. We’ve open up our connection as wide as it can go._

 _It’s beautiful,_  she whispered, and she felt happiness swell up through her.

 _I love how well you’re taking this,_  he told her.  _You’re a natural with telepathy. It’s beautiful to watch._

She felt giddy with delight, and she continued to explore their mental landscape.

 _Earlier, we were in a hallway, and we had bodies,_  Rose said.  _How did you do that?_

_Can you feel my presence in your mind? Can you feel your own? Focus on that energy, and try to project my body onto it._

Rose screwed up her face in concentration. She breathed slowly as she felt for the spark of energy in her mind that was him, and it took a little more effort to be self-aware of her own mental presence, but she finally found it. She then conjured up all of the memories she had of the Doctor, and how he looked and moved and spoke, and Rose was amazed to see his energy signature transform into a body.

 _Well done!_  he crowed.

She flushed with pride and beamed at him.

Their mental landscape slowly turned into the hallway from that afternoon, and from the excitement and anticipation rolling off of him, he had taken them back to the hallway.

 _Can I show you something?_  he asked, holding out his hand.

 _Always._  She slipped her fingers between his, and her breath caught with how good it felt. Like being caught up in the biggest, warmest hug from the person you loved most in the universe.  _Will it always feel like this?_

His pleasure was barely contained as he croaked,  _Yeah. Oh, Rose, I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this feels._

But she thought she knew, because it was the best thing she’d ever felt.

He began to lead her down the corridor of her mind until it morphed into his.

 _How does it do that?_  Rose asked.

_Our minds are joined. Fused together. They used to be two separate entities, but now they’re occupying the same space. The middle is where our bond was formed. And it’s what I wanted to show you. Here. Can you feel the spot where your mind ends and mine begins?_

He let go of her hand and let her walk down the corridor. She focused carefully, and gasped when she felt a subtle shift in her mind. Delighted, she took three steps forward, and felt herself shift into his mental landscape. She took a step back, then another, and she felt a slight tingle at the base of her skull, and when she took a baby step backward, she felt herself slip back into her own mind.

 _Right here,_  she said, stepping back to the place where the base of her skull tingled.

 _Very good._  He took her hand again, and told her to close her eyes.

 _They’re already closed,_  she teased, grinning at him.

He rolled his eyes, and told her to close her mind’s eye.

She did, but she could still sense everything around her. Though she couldn’t explicitly see the corridor, or the Doctor standing beside her, she could still make out their presence in her mind.

_I’m going to try something._

She felt him squeeze her hand, and he then whispered,  _Okay, open your eyes_.

She did, and she gasped at the warm light they were standing in. A thin band of energy was flowing around them, wrapping them both in light that shimmered between gold and silver. She didn’t even have to ask him what it was; she knew this was their bond. It felt as familiar to her as breathing.

Rose looked over at him and saw the energy was twined around him, too. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. It drew her in, closer and closer to the Doctor until she was standing right in front of him. As she looked more carefully, the energy didn’t just flow around him, it flowed through him. The webs of silver and gold emanated from within his very being, and when she looked down, she saw she was made of the same thing.

She held her hand up and hovered it near his chest, where the light pulsed through strongest.

_Can I touch?_

_Yeah,_  he whispered.  _It is going to feel really intense, though. For both of us. If it’s too much, let me know and I’ll take us back to the corridor._

Nervous anticipation swelled up through her, and she slowly reached out and touched their bond as it wrapped around the Doctor.

Pleasure far greater than anything she ever felt overcame her. But it was entirely different from any pleasure she’d felt before. It wasn’t akin to sexual pleasure, but rather it was closer in feeling to utter elation and joy. It was indescribably beautiful and intense, and it left her aching for more.

Unthinkingly, she rubbed her hand up the Doctor’s chest and snaked it behind his neck. She stepped closer until she had her arms wrapped around his shoulders and their fronts were pressed flush together. The pleasure she felt deepened and she moaned at how good it felt. The Doctor’s chest rumbled beneath her ear as he groaned and wrapped his arms around her.

Her mind swirled with being enveloped in the Doctor’s essence. It was overwhelming, but at the same time she wanted more. She wanted to burrow closer to him and deepen their connection and live forever in this moment.

They stayed entwined together, basking in the love they were passing back and forth. Their love was eternal and would never end. Rose could see it stretching around them and beyond them, branching across time and space, and at the very heart of it was the Doctor and Rose Tyler, forever.

She squeezed the Doctor tightly, her mind spinning with everything she was feeling, and she pressed a soft kiss to his collarbone in warning before she took a step away from him. The warmth of their embrace remained, even as they slowly faded out of their mental landscapes and became aware of their physical surroundings again.

Rose’s head ached slightly as she opened her eyes. Her tea was still in her clasped hands and was dangerously close to spilling all over the sofa. She set it on the coffee table and tucked herself into the Doctor’s side again.

“That was…” She blew out a noisy breath, unable to find the words to describe it. It was the most vulnerable she’d ever felt around another person. She’d been completely open to him, there was nothing he couldn’t see inside of her, but rather than feel embarrassed, she felt completely loved and accepted.

“Yeah,” the Doctor murmured. “Thank you, Rose. Thank you so much for sharing that with me.”

Rose yawned and rested her head against the Doctor’s shoulder. She shivered when he pressed a kiss to her top of her head, making her scalp tingle. Exhaustion settled over her, making her body feel so heavy.

The Doctor felt more present in her mind than he did before, like she could reach out and cradle him in her mind’s eye effortlessly. She probed his presence and projected her love and awe for him and their bond to him, and she smiled in satisfaction when he gasped.

“Oh, Rose.” He tightened his hold around her shoulders and pressed a long, firm kiss to her hair. “Having this bond with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“D’you think we ever would have gotten to this point on our own, if we hadn’t gone to Sika today?” Rose asked.

The Doctor was quiet for a moment before he admitted, “I don’t know. I would like to think yes. But thousands upon thousands of timelines stretched out before us today. Anything could have happened. I’ve been in love with you for months, but that doesn’t mean I would have acted on it. But I like to think I would have.”

“I do, too,” she answered, and she yawned again. She pulled up the memory of being entwined with the Doctor and their bond, and she showed him how their bond stretched ahead of them, further than they could see. “Our love would always endure, I think. It was just a matter of us both admitting to it.”

The Doctor hummed in agreement, then she felt his mental signature shift slightly. It felt like he’d gone out of focus, while simultaneously multiplying, like there were thousands of little Doctors existing in her mind at once. It wasn’t the most comfortable sensation Rose had ever felt, and it made her half-nauseous.

“Sorry, I was just looking at timelines,” he whispered, and Rose felt his pulse quicken beneath her ear. “Rose… our bond goes on forever.”

“I know,” she said. “I saw it. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he agreed, “but you’re missing my point, love. Forever, Rose. Our bond should only stretch out a few decades. Don’t get me wrong. I am…  _beyond_  excited. But it shouldn’t be this long.”

Rose knew she should feel surprised, or worried, but all she could feel was a sense of rightness. Like this was how it was supposed to be, and this was always how it would have happened.

But she could feel the Doctor’s slight concern underneath his excitement. She reached out for him and wrapped him in a mental embrace, one that he gladly reciprocated.

“I want to run some tests,” he whispered into her hair.

“Can it wait?” she asked. “I’m knackered.”

She could feel his immediate refusal, but it then shifted into understanding and agreement.

“Come, you should get some sleep,” he whispered, gently nudging her head off his shoulder.

“Will you stay with me?” she asked, standing.

“Of course,” he replied. “Always.”

He set his half-drunk mug of tea on the coffee table and wrapped his arm around her waist to guide her to her room. But when they exited the library, the stepped into a new corridor that neither of them had seen before. Only one doorway existed at the end of the corridor.

The Doctor glanced up at the ceiling, then down at Rose. “Should we see where she wants to take us?”

Rose nodded, hoping that whatever room it was had a bed. She felt like she could fall asleep standing up. As fantastic as it had felt to connect so deeply with the Doctor, it had sapped her of all of her energy.

The room did indeed have a bed in it; the TARDIS had guided them to a new bedroom. It was much larger than her bedroom, and had twice as much furniture, but Rose didn’t care about the furniture. She cared about the king-size sleigh bed in the middle of the room.

“I think she wants us to move into the same bedroom,” the Doctor said, glancing around.

“Well, we are married,” Rose said, squeezing her arm around his waist.

“We don’t need to use this room right away,” the Doctor continued. “You’d said you felt like things were moving too fast, and…”

“Not too fast, just fast,” she corrected. “And I was mainly worried about you, and if you would get scared of how fast we were moving.”

“No,” he said firmly, reaching down to cradle her cheek in his palm. He lifted her head to look her in the eye. His face was relaxed with happiness. “I told you. I’m done panicking, and I’m done hiding. I want this, Rose. I want this so much. I want  _you_. Forever.”

Rose smiled up at him, and momentarily pushing aside her exhaustion, she lifted herself up onto her tiptoes to brush her lips against his. Her lips tingled at the contact and she sighed against his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed closer for just a second before she pulled out of the kiss.

“I want you, too,” she whispered, rubbing her thumb across his glistening bottom lip. “Forever, Doctor. But right now, I really want to sleep.”

He smiled at her, and ducked down to press a kiss to her forehead. He let go of her and walked to the side of the bed closest to the door and pulled down the covers. The sheets were soft and sleek, and Rose groaned as the silk brushed against her skin. She nuzzled her face into the fluffy pillow as the mattress seemed to cradle her entire body.

The Doctor hummed his appreciation, and then Rose felt his hesitation. She cracked open an eye and saw him looking at her. She gave him a mental prod to tell her what was bothering him, and he smiled shyly.

“Can I hold you?” he asked.

Warmth bubbled up through her chest, and she turned away from him before she scooted backward until her back was flush against his front. They both sighed at the gentle pleasure of so much skin-to-skin contact, and Rose shivered when he brushed a kiss to the sliver of skin above the collar of her shirt at her neck.

“This feels really nice,” he admitted, tightening his hold around her waist.

Rose nodded in agreement and relaxed back against him, feeling so close to sleep. He kissed her neck again and whispered,  _Sleep, love. I’ll be here when you wake up._

Her last thought was of how nice it felt to be held this intimately, and to be called ‘love’. She felt the Doctor hold her closer, and she heard him make a mental note to himself to call her ‘love’ more often. She smiled to herself, feeling indescribably happy, before she lost all awareness of the world and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not quite ready to leave this Doctor and Rose behind, so I've made this into a series to give myself an opening to explore them and their new relationship. Subscribe to the series to get notifications about more stories with these two :)


End file.
